Germany's far-right AfD claim right to govern after election gains

National leaders of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) claimed a right to join coalition governments in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony after making strong gains in elections on Sunday.

The AfD led in Thuringia with 32.8% of the vote, while the party finished a close second in Saxony with 30.6%, only 1.3 percentage points behind the centre-right Christian Democrats (CDU), according to preliminary official results.

It's unclear when final election results will be available.

"Of course we have a claim to government," AfD co-chairwoman Alice Weidel said during a Monday morning appearance on public broadcaster ZDF.

The AfD is almost certain to remain frozen out of power in both states, despite the strong results, as every other party has categorically ruled out any coalition talks with the far right.

Politicians from other parties have denounced the AfD as a threat to Germany's democratic traditions and far too extreme to govern.

Domestic intelligence agencies have classified the AfD's state-level organizations in both Saxony and Thuringia as known far-right extremist groups.

But Weidel said she doesn't believe other parties will be able to maintain the firewall against the AfD: "Let's see how the CDU will behave in the long term."

AfD co-chairman Tino Chrupalla added in a separate interview with Deutschlandfunk radio that the CDU's Michael Kretschmer, the conservative incumbent state premier in Saxony, would be able to deliver his policies in partnership with the far right.

"Who does he want to realize his election promises with? That would work better with us than, I think, with the SPD or the Greens, for example," Chrupalla said.